WHILE Darlington Mowden Park ended the season on a flat note with a 33-6 defeat at Blaydon, for Zach Kibirige the season was just beginning.

After a 13-month lay-off, the 20-year-old Yarm School product went on after 30 minutes for Blaydon and on the two occasions when he received the ball in space he showed he has lost none of his pace.

Kibirige featured in the juniors at Darlington, where his brother Adam also played, and has long looked destined for the top.

But after breaking and dislocating an ankle on his Premiership debut for Newcastle last year he needed a second operation to correct the damage.

The first time he had the chance to stretch his legs on Saturday was when he came off the right wing to support a move going left. He appeared in the centre and instantly injected pace to create the overlap for a try.

He then scored himself after 64 minutes, when he skilfully collected a low pass on halfway, sped past one tackle and he side-stepped another defender to race under the posts.

Mowden have tried a number of wingers this season but none has come close to matching that sort of finishing. One thing they have lacked is a prolific try scorer, but adding more muscle to the pack will be a greater concern ahead of next season.

Through two penalties by Garry Law they led 6-5 until shortly before half-time, but although they had enjoyed a territorial advantage they never looked like scoring a try.

That they ended the game without one for the only time this season bore testimony to Blaydon's defence, although it also reflected how Mowden's sparkle has faded at the end of a long, hard season.

Having started the game one point ahead of Blaydon, they finished four behind in ninth place. But they would have settled for that at the start of the campaign and can look back with great satisfaction on their peak in February and March, when they won at Fylde and at home to Coventry.

As in the last two home games, their scrum gradually disintegrated, despite recalled lock Talite Vaioleti showing that he can still play an influential part if he stays injury-free. He has settled in the area and will be available next season.

Former Stockton winger Tom Jeffery, making his farewell appearance for Blaydon, atoned for two dropped passes by rampaging through the centre to score the fifth and final try from 60 metres.

It could have been worse for Mowden had another Teessider, Andrew Baggett, not missed three easy kicks, although he did land two touchline conversions.

Northallerton tuned up for Sunday's National Junior Vase final appearance at Twickenham by winning their Yorkshire Silver Trophy semi-final 8-0 at Whitby.

Both sides struggled to come to terms with surprisingly cold, wet conditions and there were few try-scoring chances after Jacob Sankey finished off a 15-metre rolling maul in the tenth minute.

Whitby successfully countered the maul after that and generally defended well, so it took a determined effort by North to overcome them.

Good kicking by Joe Terry and Alec Porter kept Whitby pinned back and Iain Swall played havoc with their line-out.

Porter added a penalty after 50 minutes but had to retire with a worrying injury ahead of the Twickenham game. North coasted through the rest of the match.

The Silver Trophy final is at York on Sunday week.

Darlington stage their annual junior festival at Blackwell Meadows this weekend, with under 13s to 16s tomorrow and under sevens upwards on Sunday.

A message on the website speaks of “a whole new outlook and management team”, adding that they have reviewed last year's festival and are working hard to make this one of, if not the most successful festival to date.